


Midnight Excursion

by eridex



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Chocobos, Established Relationship, Ignoct Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eridex/pseuds/eridex
Summary: For the second Timed Quest of Ignoct Week: JoyrideNoctis has a lot on his mind.  Ignis helps him forget.(there are chocobo involved)





	Midnight Excursion

Noctis hears Ignis approaching, knows it’s him from the telltale click of his leather shoes accompanying each brisk step. It’s barely been three minutes since Noctis slipped out of the motel room, but he expects nothing less of his advisor.

Of course, Ignis is more than just his advisor. Ignis is his childhood friend, his first crush, and more recently, his boyfriend.

“Noct.” Ignis’ voice cuts through the ambience of the sleeping chocobo and surrounding wildlife. 

Noctis keeps his back to him. “Can’t sleep?” he asks, stroking the chocobo in front of him. She affectionately nuzzles his hand in return.

“I should be asking you that.” Ignis is closer now, but he stops just short of being able to touch Noctis. “Your unexplained absence worried me.”

“Sorry,” Noctis says. “You didn’t wake Gladio or Prompto?”

“I had a feeling you hadn’t been kidnapped.”

Neither of them say anything for a long while. Noctis continues to bury his fingers in the soft down of the chocobo’s neck, eliciting a _kweh_ of pleasure from the bird. Animals have always been fond of him. As a child, Noctis would play with any stray cats that found themselves in the Citadel garden. He’d coax the fish in the pond to follow his finger as he traced lazy patterns on the water’s surface and laughed when some of the fish would nibble at his submerged fingertips. And although his father never permitted him to have his own pet, he had once convinced Ignis to help him nurse a baby bird with a broken wing back to health. Those were simpler times, before his father’s health started declining and before he understood the consequences of being at war with Niflheim.

A warm hand settles on Noctis’ shoulder, tearing him away from his thoughts. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Noctis says. Then buries his face in the feathers of his chocobo. “Everything.”

Ignis doesn’t comment on the way his voice cracks, muffled as it is from the feathers. He squeezes Noctis’ shoulder as his other arm embraces him from behind, Noctis’ back flush against Ignis’ chest. 

The summer air is warm, but the warmth Noctis feels radiating from each point of contact is different. The touch is comforting. Ignis makes him feel safe.

“Do you want to talk?” Ignis asks, his own voice muffled in Noctis’ messy hair.

“No. Just… not yet.”

“Very well.”

When Noctis finally turns to face Ignis, he’s struck by the way the harsh lighting of the lamppost highlights Ignis’ face. His high cheekbones and strong jawline, framed by long, unstyled bangs, make Ignis look like a storybook prince. His glasses are missing, as well, giving Noctis an unobstructed view of Ignis’ cool green eyes brimming with concern. 

“Thanks, though,” Noctis says. “Thanks for being here for me, Iggy.”

“Always.” 

Ignis’ gaze drifts from Noctis to the chocobo behind him. She _kwehs_ at the attention, and Noctis can hear her stretching her wings within the pen. Noctis knows the look blossoming on Ignis’ face and smiles an uncharacteristically roguish grin settles on Ignis’ lips.

“Let us go on a little midnight excursion,” Ignis says. “I dare say it will help you fall asleep.”

Noctis remembers the ‘excursions’ of their youth, where Ignis would help him sneak out of the Citadel and take the fall whenever they were caught. “Lead the way, Specs.”

 

Ignis takes him to the chocobo race track across the road. The area is well lit and completely empty, save for the two of them and their chocobo. 

“Race?”

Noctis doesn’t have a chance to respond before Ignis is gone, the bright pink feathers of his chocobo growing smaller in the distance. Noctis spurs his own chocobo into a run to catch up, eyes set on the curve of Ignis’ back. 

The cool air feels good against his skin, his surroundings a blur of greens and browns all bathed in the artificial lights of the posts as his chocobo goes so fast that he swears she’s actually flying. His chocobo is familiar with the track; it’s evident in the way she expertly swerves around obstacles and makes sharp turns without losing much momentum.

The wind carries Ignis’ laughter, light and carefree in a way that Noctis hasn’t heard since before they left Insomnia, to Noctis. Noctis is quickly closing in on him, and from this distance, he can see strands of sandy blond hair blowing wildly through the air.

When Noctis finally gains the edge after a particularly sharp turn, he tosses a look of triumph over his shoulder and sticks his tongue out much like a child. He feels free, as if his worries have been carried away by the wind. The only things he thinks about are the rhythmic bounce of his body as his chocobo sprints toward the finish line and the sound of Ignis’ laughter behind him. Adrenaline pumps through his veins and his heart beats wildly in his chest. It feels good.

“Better luck next time,” Noctis teases after they cross the finish line. They’re still on their respective chocobo, faces flushed and short of breath as the excitement dies down. Noctis studies the curve of Ignis’ lips, the top one slightly protruding due to a lifelong overbite, and doesn’t even register leaning over to grab the collar of Ignis’ sleepshirt. Noctis pulls, barely able to align his mouth with Ignis’ before their teeth meet in a painful collision that nonetheless ends in a passionate kiss.

“If this is the outcome, I’d say my luck is perfectly fine,” Ignis says. His breath is warm against Noctis’ lips, his eyes shining and hair windswept.

Noctis feels an entirely different kind of heat settling on his cheeks as he straightens on his chocobo. “Let’s go get some sleep.”

“Splendid idea, Noct.”

**Author's Note:**

> i've been dying to participate in ignoct week and i took the snowstorm that cancelled my classes today as a sign to get my ass in gear. largely unedited since it's 3am now and i have class tomorrow. it's my first time writing for ffxv but i've sold my soul to ignoct at this point and i'll try to improve my characterizations if i find enough time to fill more prompts later this week ( ´ ▽ ` )b


End file.
